


A Misunderstanding

by deathrayofgay



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: (anyone that knows my writing knows i have a hard time writing angst), (i use the word angst lightly), Angst and Fluff and Smut, Angst with a Happy Ending, Established Relationship, Gender-Neutral Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Keith (Voltron) is Bad at Feelings, M/M, Misunderstandings, Sad Lance (Voltron), basically keith and lance have a fight and lance is sad, hunk drops an f bomb :0, keith and lance live together, keith is dumb and salty, rated mature for swearing and future smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-05
Updated: 2020-02-05
Packaged: 2021-02-28 04:26:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,181
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22577773
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deathrayofgay/pseuds/deathrayofgay
Summary: Keith and Lance have been dating for almost 2 years.Lance has always been just so sweet and romantic, and Keith has never adjusted to all the romantic gestures and gets flustered every single time. Just last week, when Keith got home from a very busy and stressful day at work, Lance had surprised him with flowers and chocolates, ran him a bath and made him dinner. Keith had blushed like a fool and spent the entire night tripping over his words trying to thank Lance for the special treatment.And so, Keith was incredibly surprised to learn that Lance had apparently cheated on him.Alternatively: Keith makes a mistake and has to beg Lance for forgiveness(chapter 2 will be make-up/apology sex so if you're not into smut don't read chapter 2!)
Relationships: Keith/Lance (Voltron)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 69





	A Misunderstanding

**Author's Note:**

> HELLO THERE! 
> 
> I have had this idea saved in my documents since 2017 and I've been meaning to write it for so long!! It was actually supposed to be a crackfic at first but slowly evolved into...whatever this is *sweats*
> 
> So here's 4k words of...something!

Keith and Lance have been dating for almost 2 years.

Lance has always been just so sweet and romantic, and Keith has never adjusted to all the romantic gestures and gets flustered every single time. Just last week, when Keith got home from a very busy and stressful day at work, Lance had surprised him with flowers and chocolates, ran him a bath and made him dinner. Keith had blushed like a fool and spent the entire night tripping over his words trying to thank Lance for the special treatment.

And so, Keith was incredibly surprised to learn that Lance had apparently cheated on him.

He overheard it during a conversation on Sunday morning, as Lance, Pidge and Hunk were hanging out in the living room. Keith had been upstairs, having slept in after working the late shift, and as he padded softly down the stairs, he heard the words out clear as day.

Pidge had brought up the topic, their voice full of mirth, “How did your clubbing go? As disgusting as I imagine?”

Lance had chuckled quietly, most likely thinking Keith was still asleep, “It was fun! Hunk and I did some dancing, had some nice drinks. Right buddy?”

Hunk hummed in agreement, “Yeah, and Lance got a free blowjob off some guy hanging around the bar.”

Pidge whistled teasingly, “Is that so?”

Lance scoffs before speaking, “Yeah, I guess. I told him I wasn’t single though and he seemed content to leave it at that. He was kinda nice about it.”

Keith frowns, tuning out the rest of their conversation. He quietly sneaks back up the stairs, feeling the shock giving way to anger.

Keith will admit it any day; he can be salty.

For the next couple of days, Keith gives Lance the silent treatment, ignoring him wherever he can. Lance tries to get him to speak to him, but his efforts are in vain. Lance still hasn’t told Keith about his weekend escapades and Keith refuses to speak to him until he can man up and come clean. On Tuesday night, Keith locks the bedroom door before Lance comes to bed, leaving a spare blanket outside the door, along with a note instructing Lance he can sleep on the sofa.

Lance apparently won’t stand for that, if his shouting from outside the door is any indication.

“Keith! What the hell is going on?! You don’t speak to me for days and then leave me a note telling me I can’t sleep in my own bed?” Lance’s voice goes quieter, softer, “Babe, did I do something wrong? If I did, I’m sorry. Please let me in? Or tell me what I did wrong?”

Keith just huffs out an unamused breath, loud enough for Lance to hear him, and climbs into the bed, pulling the comforter over himself. He glares at the door, wishing he could burn a hole through it _and_ Lance. Either he’s completely clueless or a stubborn liar.

Keith continues to refuse to talk to him.

On Wednesday morning, Keith opens the bedroom door to leave and Lance falls backwards into the room. Keith blinks down at him, surprised that he was stubborn enough to sit with his back against the door all night. Lance looks up at him, shocked awake by falling onto his back, before jumping onto his feet in front of Keith.

“Keith! Please talk to me! What did I do?”

Keith just looks at him blankly, trying not to let himself feel bad as he notices the bags under Lance’s eyes from his difficult sleep. Keith just tries to push past him, planning on getting some coffee and continuing to ignore the other man’s presence some more.

Lance grabs hold of his arm as he tries, stopping him still, “Seriously, babe. I hate this, I can’t stand seeing you mad at me.”

Keith just scoffs, anger seeping into his voice, “Well, you should have thought about that before.”

Lance’s expression relaxes as he hears Keith’s voice and Keith tries not to let his heartache show at seeing his relief, “Before what? I don’t know what I’ve done.”

Keith pulls his arm away, continuing to get his coffee, “Wow, guess you really are clueless.”

Lance squawks out a noise that’s all hurt, and Keith frowns as he leaves the room, ignoring the twinge in his heart at the sound.

Wednesday evening, when Keith gets home from work, Lance isn’t there. He’s not in the living room, or the kitchen, or anywhere upstairs. Keith tries to force himself not to worry. Its Lance’s own fault for cheating in the first place, he doesn’t deserve Keith’s worry. Still, Keith can’t quite quell the pain he feels when he notices Lance has packed an overnight bag.

There’s a note on the dresser, next to a bouquet of flowers in a vase.

_Keith,_

_I’m spending a few nights at Hunk’s._

_You clearly don’t want me there right now and I know I was the one that was trying to get you to speak to me, but honestly? The silent treatment was better than whatever this morning was._

_I still don’t know what I possibly could have done to upset you. Did I forget something? Did I say something stupid and offend you? ~~Or are did you just realise that I’m not worth the trouble?~~_

_I have my phone on me, if you want to talk._

_Please want to talk._

_Yours, Lance._

Keith lets the frown fall onto his face, his heart aching at the idea that Lance is hurting because of him, but he can still feel the anger underneath.

~~~

Lance tries to fight the tears welling up behind his eyes. He doesn’t wanna cry while he’s at Hunk’s place; his friend is already doing him a huge favour letting him stay there for a few days, he doesn’t want to make a nuisance of himself. Hunk is in bed, and Lance is staying in his guest room down the hall, so if he were to cry, he’d surely wake his friend.

He rolls onto his stomach on the bed, pushing his face into the pillow. He tries to search his brain, trying to come up with one single reason why Keith could be so mad at him. The only thing he can possibly come up with is that Keith just decided he’d had enough, that Lance just wasn’t good enough. If it was something so simple as not cleaning up after himself or eating the last slice of cake, Keith wouldn’t act like this over it. Sure, he might be pissy for a few hours, but he’d tell Lance why he was mad, Lance would apologise and do whatever he could to make it up to him.

A quiet sob makes its way out of Lance’s body, thankfully mostly muffled by the pillow.

Keith was so harsh this morning. When he’d spoken to Lance, when he’d called him clueless, the anger and _resentment_ in his tone nearly ripped Lance’s heart in two. Once he heard the front door being slammed closed and locked, Lance hadn’t hesitated to burst into tears on the bedroom floor. He had cried for a solid hour before he pushed himself off the floor, grabbed his phone and called Hunk. Hunk must have heard the waver in Lance’s voice because as soon as Lance mentioned Keith, his friend had told him to pack a bag and come right over.

When he got to Hunk’s house, his eyes must still have been red from crying because he was immediately pulled into a hug. Hunk made him some half-baked cookie dough, topped with a more than healthy amount of ice cream, and Lance lay on Hunk’s chest, cuddling him like a big kid. They were such close friends, they might as well have been brothers, and the close physical contact to someone as warm and cuddly as Hunk was exactly what he needed after being ignored by his boyfriend for 3 days straight.

They didn’t talk about what was happening with Keith; Lance didn’t want to start crying again. They just relaxed on the couch and watched cartoons until they started to get sleepy, and then Hunk helped Lance get settled in the guest room.

Lance woke up the next morning to Hunk cuddling him. He smelt like cakes, sunshine and coffee. Or maybe the smell of coffee was coming from the mug on the bedside table.

“Hey, buddy.”

Hunk pulls out of the hug with a soft smile, grabbing the coffee and holding it out to him, “Morning. I made you some coffee.”

Lance forces a smile and pushes himself up, taking the coffee gratefully, “Thanks dude, you’re the bestest friend there ever was.”

Hunk’s smile widens a little, briefly, before he casts his gaze down to his fingers playing with a loose thread, “So, uh, just a reminder; I am here to listen, if you, uh, you wanna talk. I’ll be on your side, no matter what’s happening.”

Lance just sighs, staring into his coffee, “I… I don’t really know what’s happening. Keith…” He frowns, his lip quivering, “He’s been ignoring me all week. He locked me out of the bedroom on Tuesday night. Yesterday morning I got him to speak to me, but I really wish I hadn’t. I don’t know what I’ve done, Hunk. I think he hates me.”

Lance hears Hunk grumble beside him, moving to stand, “I’m gonna find out if Shiro or Pidge know anything. They’re the only other two that he might have said something to.”

Lance just sighs heavily, slouching into the pillow behind him, “Just, don’t say anything bad about him? It’s probably me. Even if its not, just… I love him, Hunk.”

Hunk just looks at Lance over his shoulder, his expression soft, “Of course.”

Lance lies in the bed for another half hour, moping around doing nothing, being in denial about existing. He eventually forces himself out of bed, grabbing his phone from the bedside table.

Nothing. No missed calls. No missed texts.

Keith clearly didn’t want to talk.

When Hunk finds Lance curled up on the sofa, buried under a blanket and watching Teen Titans, he lets out a disheartened sigh.

“I’m sorry buddy, Pidge doesn’t have any clue what could be wrong with Keith and Shiro didn’t answer, so either he’s busy or he’s taking Keith’s side and knows I’d take yours.”

Lance just frowns, glancing at his phone, “Maybe I should just try to talk to Keith again. Try and clear everything up. I just want to know what I’ve done. I keep thinking it’s just me, you know? And I can’t let myself get back into that mindset.”

Hunk just smiles softly at that, resting his hand on Lance’s shoulder, “You should be proud that you can pick up on that before it gets bad. If you were still in the place you were in a few years ago, you’d be deep in a spiral by this point.”

Lance just looks at his phone again, debating whether to make the call or not. In a split-second decision, he grabs his phone and calls Keith, not noticing Hunk giving him so privacy. He can feel the anxiety building in his stomach as the call rings out, convincing himself with every dull ring in his ear that Keith isn’t going to pick up. But he does.

His boyfriend’s voice sounds cold and annoyed when he answers, “What? What do you want? Are you finally going to confess? Or are you still going to be a coward about it?”

Lance sputters at the accusation, dropping the blanket from his shoulders, “Confess what? Be a coward about what?! Clearly you know something I don’t, because I don’t have a clue what the hell I’ve done! I’ve had enough of letting you treat me like this Keith, I’m not letting this pull me back into hell! Tell me whatever the fuck it is you think you know so I can fix it!”

Keith is silent on the other end of the phone for a few moments, but Lance can all but see the anger coming off of his response, “Don’t try and act like the victim Lance. I know, okay? I heard you talking about it.”

Lance’s brows furrow and he gets to his feet, wandering in what he hopes is the opposite direction of Hunk, “Talking about what?!”

Keith scoffs, more likely than not rolling his eyes, “Stop playing dumb. The club, Lance. I know what happened. With whatever guy it was, by the bar.”

Lance frowns, feet stopping dead, “What? What guy?! The guy who bought me one drink? The guy who I told I wasn’t available and sent on his merry way? Are you seriously punishing me because one guy came onto me and I told him to find someone else? Really?!”

Keith just growls on the other side of the line, and if Lance wasn’t so _pissed_ at him right now, that might’ve interested him more, “If it was really just that, of course I wouldn’t be this pissed. Hell, if you’d admitted it straight away and not tried to deny it to my face, we might have even been able to work it out! But the fact that you cheated on me and refuse to admit it?! Do me a favour, don’t come home for anything unless I’m at work. I don’t wanna look at a liar.”

The line goes dead and Lance yells, sliding his back down the wall behind him. Fuck being polite in his friend’s home, Lance just lets the tears stream over his face, not even bothering to act okay when Hunk runs over and pulls him into a hug.

~~~

When Lance manages to stop crying into Hunk’s shoulder, Hunk pulls him over to the sofa and hands him some water, hovering nearby.

There’s no hesitation in his voice; Hunk can tell that he just needs to get it off his chest, “He thinks I cheated. For some reason, he’s totally _fucking_ convinced that I slept with that guy at the bar. Does he really have that little faith in me? He said he heard me talking about it. Why the fuck would I talk about something that didn’t happen?!”

Hunk just slides next to Lance on the sofa, throwing an arm around him, “It has to be a misunderstanding, Lance. Do you want me to try and talk to him? Maybe he’ll listen to me, since I was there.”

Lance just waves a hand in the air, clearly no energy left to even try, “Sure. It's not like he can be even more convinced I’m a dirty, lying cheat. What bad could it possibly do?”

Hunk presses a kiss to Lance’s forehead, leaving him on the sofa. Hunk grabs his phone, calling Keith, hoping beyond hope that he will pick up and hear Hunk out.

Keith’s voice calls out after the second ring, “Listen-”

Hunk can feel the anger in his veins, wanting nothing more than to defend his best friend, “No _you_ listen, Keith. I don’t care what you’ve got to say right now, I want to tell you what I _know_ happened at the club, since I was actually there.” Hunk pauses for a second, waiting for Keith to hang up – he doesn’t, “Lance was a perfect boyfriend, an absolutely faithful man, all night. Not once did he disappear from my sight, he was with me the entire night. One man did buy Lance a shot, but Lance sought him out to tell him that he was very much in an incredibly happy relationship with the love of his life, and the man was super understanding about it and left Lance alone for the rest of the night. The closest Lance got to cheating on you with that man was not letting the blowjob shot he bought him go to waste. That’s it.”

A dead silence settles over the line, and Keith only speaks up after almost 5 minutes, “A…A what shot?”

Hunk frowns, “A blowjob shot. Its coffee liqueur topped with whipped cream. Wh-”

Realisation dawns on Hunk just as Keith cuts him off, “ _Shit, I fucked up._ ”

Hunk puts his hand to his face, rubbing his temple, “Keith… Please, _please_ don’t tell me that you caused all this crap over a shot.”

Keith is silent again, and Hunk can almost hear the shock on his face, “I didn’t… I’d never heard of one of those before! I heard you guys talking on Sunday, you just said he got a blowjob! How the fuck was I supposed to know it was a fucking shot?!”

Hunk squeezes his hand around his forehead in frustration, “I don’t know, maybe trust your boyfriend?! Or ask him about it, instead of pouting about it and making him feel like you hate him?! _Fuck._ ”

Hunk hangs up the phone, fully aware that Keith will definitely pick up on the fact that Hunk used the F word. He hopes Keith realises Hunk would never use that word under normal circumstances, and him using that word shows just how hurt Lance is.

~~~

Keith drops the phone on the bed as he follows it with a string of curse words falling from his mouth. He slaps his hands into his face as he feels the guilt rolling in his stomach. _Shit, I really fucked up this time._ He lets a long, frustrated sigh as he rolls onto his stomach on the bed, burying his face in the blankets. _How the fuck am I going to possibly make this even a little bit okay? How can I possibly apologise for the absolute asshole I’ve been?_

Keith didn’t want to leave it too long; he didn’t make to make Lance suffer through more time thinking that Keith hated him. But he also wanted to make sure that he could find the best way to try and apologise to Lance; he wanted to try to at least partially apologise for his being a shitty boyfriend and treating him awfully over the smallest, stupidest misunderstanding.

In the end, he didn’t come up with some grand, elaborate scheme to shower Lance in affection and apologies; that was always Lance’s strength, not Keith’s. He’d called Hunk again, asking if he was able to persuade Lance to come home so they could talk. Lance had obviously agreed, and Keith wasn’t sure if he was happy about that or not. On the one hand, he was happy that Lance was coming home, because the guilt in his chest was too heavy to bear and he missed Lance and he wanted to see him and apologise endlessly. On the other hand, he didn’t want Lance to forgive him so easily. Keith had been absolutely terrible to Lance, and hadn’t heard him out, or believed him. He so easily took the misunderstanding and accepted it, not having any faith or trust in his boyfriend. If Lance had done that to Keith…well, imagining that scenario is only making Keith feel even worse about this.

He frowns as he paces the living room anxiously, his arms crossed over his chest. His heart still feels like lead in molasses, slowly sinking through his body with every tick of the clock. Lance will be here any minute. Keith feels sick. He tries to take deep breaths and busy himself with making sure the living room is clean and organised as he paces.

There’s a knock at the door. Keith freezes mid-step, frowning.

When he opens the door, he frowns, the guilt eating at him, “You didn’t have to knock. It’s your house too.”

He avoids Lance’s gaze but he has a feeling he’s being watched. Lance doesn’t say anything, following Keith further into the house and closing the door behind him. Keith tells Lance to sit, to which Lance obliges silently. Keith enters the kitchen and brings back a vase, filled with blue hyacinths and white orchids, and a gift bag, placing them on the coffee table.

He sits on the rug on the other side of the table, still avoiding Lance’s eyes, “Lance… I’m so sorry. I’ve been a huge idiot and a terrible boyfriend. I… I misunderstood something and jumped to conclusions… I’ve put you through so much through the last few days and you didn’t even do anything wrong, and even though I was being such a dick about it you still tried to fix things and I was just being so horrible. I’m so, so sorry Lance. I’m sorry for doubting you and refusing to listen. I’m sorry for treating you like shit. I’m sorry for being stubborn and not talking about it. I swear, from now on, if we’re ever fighting, I’m just gonna be open about it and talk to you because I can’t believe how I treated you over something so stupid because I misunderstood. I don’t blame you if you’re mad. Hell, I’d be so pissed if… Uh, that’s beside the point. The point being, I’m sorry, and I love you.”

Keith doesn’t look up, eyes still fixed on his hands twisting in his lap. Lance doesn’t respond so he just frowns, nodding a little, “I bought you these flowers. The blue ones are hyacinths, for peace and truth. The white ones are orchids, they mean sincerity and regret. Or, at least that’s what the florist told me… I also thought they were pretty, and you love blue, so…” Keith grabs the gift bag from in front of him, pulling out items one by one, “I bought you some chocolates… And a new candle…it apparently smells like the ocean. And this little plushie. It’s a shark with little heart…because I know you love sharks. Even if you don’t wanna forgive me, they’re for you.”

He sits back onto his legs, looking down, his hair over his face to hide the fact his eyes are welling up, “I’m so sorry, Lance. I love you, and I hate myself for putting you through this pain,” he pushes himself onto his feet, making to leave the room, “I’ll just, uh, go somewhere else then.”

Before he can make it out the room, there’s a hand around his wrist and a sniffle from behind him, “Wait!”

Keith turns around and sees Lance; his cheeks are covered in tear tracks and his eyes are wide, shocked. His eyes are red and so are his lips, most likely from biting them to stop himself from sobbing. He has the shark plushie in the hand not grabbing Keith, holding it up to his chest and occasionally sniffing into it. He looks so…vulnerable... Maybe even defeated. Keith’s heart throbs at the thought that he was the one that made Lance feel like this.

Lance looks hesitant, but he keeps his eyes locked with Keith’s, “I don’t… I don’t understand what you misunderstood. What, uh… Why did you think I had cheated?”

Keith feels an embarrassed blush come to his cheeks, so he looks at his feet, “Well… I, uh… I didn’t know what a blowjob shot is? And I heard Hunk say you got a blowjob off some guy…and I thought he meant… But I know now, and I know I-”

Keith’s head snaps up as he hears Lance laughing. The laugh starts off hesitant. Nervous, shocked, and a little disbelieving. Then Lance lets go of Keith’s wrist, doubling over as the laughter takes hold of his whole body. He gasps for breath where he can, and Keith can see his eyes are tearing up from the sheer force of the laughter.

He stands back up, wiping the tears from his eyes, which are now full of amusement, “Oh my god! That is just so…Keith.” He laughs to himself again a few times before smiling softly, eyes once again meeting Keith’s, “You’re such a dumbass.”

Keith lets out a dry laugh, “I know.”

Lance reaches for his hand again, and squeezes it tenderly, “You know I’d never, _ever_ cheat on you, right? You’re my entire world. I feel like I wouldn’t be me if I ever had to live without you.”

Keith just nods, afraid to speak when his eyes are welling up and his lip is starting to quiver. The regret is engulfing him, and he pulls Lance into a hug, squeezing as tight as he can and hoping he can communicate the weight in his heart. Lance just hugs him back; throws his arms around his boyfriend’s shoulder, shark toy hanging down Keith’s back.

“I love you, Keith. It hurt so bad for you to be mad at me like that. You promise me you’ll just talk to me from now on? I don’t care why you’re pissed at me, just tell me why. We can – No, we _will._ We will _always_ work it out.”

Keith nods, tears falling from his eyes silently, his voice is wavering, “I promise. I’m so sorry, Lance. I’m so sorry.”

Lance just snuggles his face into Keith’s neck, and Keith can feel that he’s crying too.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed!! 
> 
> For those interested:  
> [HERE](https://www.amazon.com/DolliBu-Sentiment-Miniature-Decorative-Souvenirs/dp/B076VSDLN9) is the shark plushy that keith bought Lance  
> and [HERE](https://www.finder.com/online-flowers-apology) is where i got my information on flowers from!
> 
> Hope you enjoyed! Remember to comment and leave a kudos!! I really appreciate it <3


End file.
